Sonbhadra Sonanchal | |
|---|---|
| Sonebhadra | |
 View fromVijaygarh Fort | |
 Location of Sonbhadra district in Uttar Pradesh | |
| Country |  India |
| State | Uttar Pradesh |
| Division | Mirzapur |
| Established | 4 March 1989 |
| Named after | Son River |
| Headquarters | Robertsganj |
| Tehsils | |
| Government | |
| • District Magistrate | Badrinath Singh,IAS |
| • Superintendent of Police | Yesh Veer Singh,IPS |
| Area | |
• Total | 6,788 km2 (2,621 sq mi) |
| Population (2011) | |
• Total | 1,862,559 |
| • Density | 270/km2 (710/sq mi) |
| Language | |
| • Official | Hindi[1] |
| • Additional official | Urdu[1] |
| • Regional | Bagheli,Bhojpuri |
| Demographics | |
| • Literacy | 64% |
| • Sex ratio | 918/1000 |
| • Scheduled Castes | 22.64% (421,661) |
| • Scheduled Tribes | 20.67% (385,018) |
| Time zone | UTC+05:30 (IST) |
| Vehicle registration | UP-64 |
| Major highways | |
| Website | sonbhadra |
Sonbhadra (also known asSonebhadra) orSonanchal is the second largest district by area ofUttar Pradesh afterLakhimpur Kheri. The district headquarters is in the town ofRobertsganj.Sonbhadra is also known as the "Energy Capital of India" for hosting multiple power plants.[2]
Sonbhadra lies betweenVindhya andKaimur hills, and its topology and natural environment prompted the first Prime Minister of IndiaJawaharlal Nehru to refer to Sonbhadra as the "Switzerland of India".[3]
In 2018 Uttar Pradesh's chief ministerYogi Adityanath recognised Sonbhadra as a tourist hub in Purvanchal region and further promoted by Uttar Pradesh Tourism Department.[4]
In February 2020, aPress Trust of India (PTI) news report incorrectly claimed that theGeological Survey of India (GSI) had found 3,000 tonnes (3,300 tons) of gold deposits in Sonbhadra district. PTI later stated on Twitter that the GSI had told PTI that there had been no such discovery of large gold deposits in the district.[5][6]
The Valley ofSon andBelan Rivers abounds in caves which were the earliest dwellings of the primeval inhabitants. This area had been the centre of activities of pre-historic humans which is evident from the rock paintings (pre-historic cave art) found in abundance in this region. These paintings are of the periods ranging fromMesolithic toPaleolithic ages.[7]
Sonbhadra, whose ancient name was Gramputra orGupt Kashi, was built by the ancient king Putrak for his queen Paatali.[8] It is said that 'Bhars' had settlements along withChero, Searis andKharwar communities in the district up to fifth century there was the rule of ''Chandel Rajput'' kings onVijaygarh Fort. This district was famous as secondKashi during 11th to 13th centuries. In the 9th century B.C., the Brahmadutt dynasty was subdivided by Nagas.Kushan andNagas also held supremacy over this region before the advent of theGupta period. After the death ofHarshvardhan in the latter half of the 7th century, it remained under the control of theGurjara-Pratihars till 1025 before they were driven out byMahmud of Ghazni. This area was under the administration of various Governors ofMughal emperors. Some of the forts such asAgori Fort were under the control of Madan Shah.
The heroine of Famous NovelChandrakanta written byDevaki Nandan Khatri was the princess ofVijaygarh and the daughter of king Jay Singh.
Agori Barhar was an impartible estate. It originally comprised parts of the present districts of Sonbhadra and part of Mirzapur district. It was divided into two parganas ofAgori and Barhar. Chandel Rajput Raja Paramardideva ofMahoba, ancestor of the family and contemporary of RajaPrithviraj III of Delhi, who attacked Mahoba as the Raja was the ally of Raja Jaichand of Kannauj, and occupied it for a time. Raja Paramardi Deva fled for his life with his friends and family, and though Mahoba was re-occupied by the Raja with the help of Jaichand of Kannauj, the glory of the capital never returned. During this time one of the sons of Raja Paramardi Deva, called Ashajit, fled eastwards in the turmoil that followed. His sons or grand sons called Barimal and Bharimal, capturedAgori from the Kaharwar Raja and made themselves the independent rulers ofAgori and Barhar. The elder brother Barimal took the kingdom of Agori and Barhar, and the younger brother Bharimal became the ruler of Bardi state ruled by Chandel -Rajput.
Another jagirdari in sonbhadra inVijaygarh.it was also ruled by Chandel Dynasty after that byNarayan dynasty.
The district lies in the extreme south-east of the state, and is bounded byMirzapur district to the northwest,Chandauli district to the north,Kaimur andRohtas districts of Bihar state to the north-east,Garhwa district ofJharkhand state to the east,Balrampur District ofChhattisgarh state to the south, andSingrauli district ofMadhya Pradesh state to the west. The northern part of the district lies on a plateau of theVindhya Range, and is drained by tributaries of the Ganges including theBelan andKarmanasha rivers. South of the steep escarpment of theKaimur Range is the valley of theSon River, which flows through the district from west to east. The southern portion of the district is hilly, interspersed with fertile stream valleys. TheRihand River, which rises to the south in the highlands ofSurguja district ofChhattisgarh, flows north to join the Son in the center of the district. TheGovind Ballabh Pant Sagar, a reservoir on theRihand, lies partly in the district and partly inMadhya Pradesh. East of the Rihand, theKanhar River, which originates inChhattisgarh, flows north to join the Son.
Sonbhadra has a relatively subtropical climate with high variation between summer and winter temperatures. The average temperature is 30 to 46 °C (86 to 115 °F) in the summer and 2 to 15 °C (36 to 59 °F) in the winter. The weather is pleasant in rainy season from July to October.
The portion of the district north of the Son River lies in theLower Gangetic plains moist deciduous forests ecoregion. The portion south of the Son lies in theChhota Nagpur dry deciduous forests ecoregion.
Kaimoor Wildlife Sanctuary lies mostly within the district, reaching generally east and west along the spine of the Kaimur Range, and extending to the Son River at its eastern end.
The district has many electrical power stations aroundGovind Ballabh Pant Sagar.NTPC has two coal-based thermal power plants, beingSingrauli Super Thermal Power Station atShaktinagar andRihand Thermal Power Station at Rihand Nagar. Other power stations are atAnpara (UPRVUNL),Obra (UPRVUNL),Renusagar (Hindalco) andPipri-Hydro (UPRVUNL).Northern Coalfields (a branch ofCoal India Limited) has its headquarters and many coal mines in this region.
Hindalco has a major aluminium plant at Renukut. Owing to the limestone hills, initially one cement factory was established at Churk in 1956. Another cement factory started at Dala in 1971, with an ancillary unit at Chunar from 1980. A big dam constructed atPipri in 1961 is namedRihand Dam; a small dam was constructed at Obra in 1968.[citation needed]
TheBirla group set up an aluminum plant at Renukut. The company set up its own power plant at Renusagar in 1967 and started a company in Renukut called HiTech Carbon. Another industrial group initiated a company in Renukut named Grasim Industries Limited, which produces chemicals and later it started own power plant at Renukut in 1998.[citation needed]
In 2006 theMinistry of Panchayati Raj named Sonbhadra as one of the country's 250most backward districts (out of a total of640).[9] It is one of the 34 districts in Uttar Pradesh currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).[9]
The city is connected by rail to Delhi, Allahabad, Ranchi and Patna. Some notable trains passing through the district are Muri express (Jammu Tawi - Delhi - Tata Nagar), Jharkhand Swarna Jayanti Express/12873(Hatia - Kanpur - Delhi), Triveni Express (Bareilly - Lucknow - Shaktinagar/Singrauli/barwadih) Bhopal Express (Bhopal-Howrah) weekly and Shaktipunj Express/11448(Howrah-Bokaro - Chopan- Jabalpur). Intercity Express/03346 (Singrauli- Chopan-Varanasi).
Robertsganj, the headquarters of Sonbhadra, is located about 88 km (55 mi) from the city ofVaranasi which has the nearest airport. Robertsganj is well connected toLucknow,Allahabad,Varanasi,Mirzapur,Gorakhpur,Faizabad,AmbikapurSasaram &Garhwa by road. Buses are available at all hours of the day from Varanasi and it normally takes2+1⁄2 hours to cover the distance. The highway connecting Varanasi and Waidhan passes through the district. Though this is not a national highway it is a very busy road because of the towns Dalla, Renukot, Anpara, Shaktinagar which are sufficiently commercialized areas. National Thermal Power corporation is in Shaktinagar and also Northern Coalfields limited (a subsidiary company of Coal India Ltd) has different projects like Singrauli, Khadia, Jayant, Dudhichua, amlori, Kakri etc. These areas have several major coal mines which cater a big part of the coal need of the state.Churk a nearby town is situated around 10 km (6.2 mi), whereJaypee Group is establishing a thermal power project. One of the main reasons this road is always busy is due to daily transport of around 1000 trucks of grits and sand.
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1901 | 241,964 | — |
| 1911 | 239,431 | −0.11% |
| 1921 | 239,230 | −0.01% |
| 1931 | 260,445 | +0.85% |
| 1941 | 297,288 | +1.33% |
| 1951 | 336,065 | +1.23% |
| 1961 | 443,174 | +2.81% |
| 1971 | 580,593 | +2.74% |
| 1981 | 800,717 | +3.27% |
| 1991 | 1,104,210 | +3.27% |
| 2001 | 1,504,852 | +3.14% |
| 2011 | 1,862,559 | +2.16% |
| Source: Census of India[10] | ||
According to the2011 census Sonbhadra district has apopulation of 1,862,559, of which male and female were 971,344 and 891,215 respectively.[12] roughly equal to the nation ofKosovo[13] or the US state ofWest Virginia.[14] This gives it a ranking of 254th in India (out of a total of640).[12] The district has a population density of 270 inhabitants per square kilometre (700/sq mi).[12] Itspopulation growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 27.27%. 16.88% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 22.64% and 20.67% of the population respectively.[12]
Sonbhadra has asex ratio of 996females for every 1000 males.In census enumeration, data regarding child undeg age six were also collected for districts Sonbhadra. There were total 323,092 children under age six against 302,834 of 2001 census. Of total 323,092 male and female were 167,870 and 155,222 respectively. Child sex ratio as per census 2011 was 925 compared to 956 of census 2001. In 2011, children under age six formed 17.35 percent of Sonbhadra District compared to 20.69 percent of 2001. There was net change of -3.34 percent in this compared to previous census.[12]
literacy rate of 64%. Male and female literacy were 74.92% and 52.14% respectively. Total literate in Sonbhadra District were 985,708 of which male and female were 601,988 and 383,720 respectively.[12]
At the time of the2011 Census of India, 83.91% of the population in the district spokeHindi and 14.57% spokeBhojpuri as their first language. Around 5,000 people in the district speakGondi and 1,800Kurukh, both tribal languages.[15]Bagheli is major language in southern part of district while in Northern part, Mix ofAwadhi andBhojpuri is spoken.
Out of the total Sonbhadra population for 2011 census, 16.88 percent lives in urban regions of district. In total 314,342 people lives in urban areas of which males are 167,999 and females are 146,343. Sex Ratio in urban region of Sonbhadra district is 871 as per 2011 census data. Similarly child sex ratio in Sonbhadra district was 868 in 2011 census. Child population (0-6) in urban region was 38,169 of which males and females were 20,434 and 17,735. This child population figure of Sonbhadra district is 12.16% of total urban population.there are 11.7% urban people belong to scheduled casts and 3.2% urban people belong to scheduled tribes.
Average literacy rate in Sonbhadra Urban as per census 2011 is 84.31% of which males and females are 90.73% and 76.93% literates respectively.
Politicians
Artists
Country's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was so taken up by the natural beauty of the region that he once described Sonbhadra as the "Switzerland of India."
Kosovo 1,825,632 July 2011 est.
West Virginia 1,852,994
Places adjacent to Sonbhadra district | |
|---|---|
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
